Continuous production of slivers from textile fibres



' Dec. 20, 1960 HIDEO AONO ETAL 2,964,802

CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF SLIVERS FROM TEXTILE FIBRES Filed Jul 2 1958 .4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS fLideo A0110 dud I I 111108111 1 $0210 B W, M W

ATTORNEYS Dec- 1960 I YHIDEO AONO ETAL Q I 2,964,302

CONTINUOUS "PRODUCTION OF SL IVERS FROM TEXTILE FIBRES Filed July 2a, 1958 l 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Hzdeb Aozw l Hz'toshi 160110 lam/m, @114 u w i ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1960 HIDEO AONO ET AL 2,964,802

CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF SLIVERS FROM TEXTILE FIBRES Filed July 28. 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS' fl\:y. 4 I Hideo Aorta 4L Hiosl i 1801 0 ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1960 HIDEO AONO ETAL 6 I CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF SLIVERS FROM TEXTILE FIBRES 4 Sheets-Shet 4 Filed July 28. 1958 INVENTORS deo A01 0 and Hitosl z' 1301 0 ISM/M Jli ATTORNEYS United States Patent CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF SLIVERS FROM TEXTILE FIBRES Hideo Aono, Amagasaki, and Hitoshi Isono, lkeda, Ja-

pan, assignors to Toyo Boseki Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, Japan, a corporation of Japan, and Howa Kogyo JKabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, Japan, a corporation of apan Filed July 28, 1958, 581. N0. 751,480 Claims priority, application Japan Aug. 5, 1 957 Claims. (CI. 19-69) This invention relates to a novel system and method.

for automatically and continuously producing slivers from textile fibres.

In the spinning industry, it is common practice that fibrous material taken from bales is, after opened, mixed and blended, brought to a so-called'lap winding machine to form in a socalled lap roll. Then, the lap roll is unwound, passed through a carding machine, drawn in to form a sliver and collected in a cylindrical can or coiler' from bale feeding to sliver production through carding entirely automatic and continuous. Furthermore, automatic lap winding machines are complicated in structure which requires skill in inspection and repair and is costful. In addition, in rewinding lap rolls of most of synthetic fibres prior to carding, there often occurs a so-called licking which is undesirable for smooth operation and production of uniform slivers. Therefore, for

these various reasons, the roll lap formation should beavoided if possible.

The object of this invention is to provide a system, apparatus and method for entirely continuously and automatically producing slivers from textile fibres without the conventional roll lap formation or without using any lap winding machine.

A further object of this invention is to continuously. and substantially evenly feed fibrous material from a single source of supply to one or more groups each comprising a considerable number of carding units, without the conventional roll lap formation.

A further object of this invention is,to provide a method and apparatus for continuously and substantially evenly feed fibrous material in the form of a lap to a carding machine without going through the conventional roll lap form.

These and other objects of the present invention and the various features and details thereof will be hereinafter more fully set forth and described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a somewhat schematic perspective view of the whole system embodying the present invention} Fig. 2 is a somewhat schematic perspective view of an automatic bale carrier;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat schematic and partly broken and cut perspective view of a hopper feeder with a condenser and various members associated therewith;

Fig. 4 is a somewhat schematic perspective view showing the relation between a carding machine and a tower hopper;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the tower hopper with an associated branch distributor.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a bale 1 is suspended from a carriage 2 moving along an overhead rail 3 and is placed on a conveyor 5 leading into a bale breaker or preparatory opener 6. The breaker or opener 6 may be of any known type but is preferably of the type in which a plurality of upwardly inclined spiked lattice conveyors are arranged in series and longitudinally of the breaker in such a manner that their bale engaging positions or lower ends are lowered successively so that the first spiked lattice conveyor will break and open an uppermost layer of the bale and the next one will break and open the subsequent layer thereof and so on. Each of the said conveyors is associated with a lateral lattice conveyor so' that fibrous material conveyed upwardly by each spiked lattice conveyor is then discharged laterally and; outwardly of the breaker 6 by the associated conveyor onto a running creeper lattice 7 through each discharge opening 8. l

The fibres thus discharged upon the creeper lattice 7 are then continuously carried into a hopper mixer 9 which may be of known type and in which the fibres are mixed and weighed so that a substantially predetermined amount of fibres is continuously fed into a S.R.R.L. opener 10 of known type and function.

, The fibres are now suitably opened, blended and mixed and prepared for delivery to the subsequent system. The fibres are then conveyed pneumatically and continuously through a conduit 11 leading to a condenser-hopper feeder combination generally indicated with the numeral 12. Indicated with the reference numeral 13 is a fan for said pneumatic conveyance which is of well known type. It should be noted here that a substantially predetermined amount of the fibres is conveyed through said conduit at a predetermined rate. The hopper feeder with condenser is enclosed in a housing 14. A cylindrical condenser 15 is arranged in an upper space in the housing and is rotated in the direction of the arrow. The leading end of the conduit 11 is directed to the condenser 15 so that the fibres are separated from air by the perforated surface of the condenser and deposited thereon. The separated air is exhausted through an air outlet (not shown) communicating with the interior of the condenser. The fibres deposited on the surface of the condenser 15 are conveyed therewith and pressed by a press roller 16 and scraped or swept off by a rotating beater or stripper roller 17 into a reserve box 18 formed by the side walls of the housing and a V-shaped partition 19. Indicated with numerals 20 and 21 are guide plates for the fibres falling into the reserve box 18 from the beater 17. A feeler fork 22 in the reserve box is pivotally supported by the side walls of the housing. The feeler fork 22 is associated with a control switch 23 in such a manner that when the reserve box 18 is filled with an undue excess of fibres the fibres press the feeler fork so that the switch 23 is actuated. The switch is so connected with an electric circuit for driving various units up to the condenser that upon actuation of the switch the circuit is broken or disenergized and the drive of the units is discontinued so that no further fibres will be conveyed to the condenser. Thus, the amount of fibres in the reserve box 18 is at all times kept substantially constant.

The fibres in the reserve box 18 are then continuously conveyed upwardly by a spiked lattice conveyor 24 extending from the bottom of the reserve box to the upper space in the housing 14 as shown. Indicated with the numeral 25 is a heater or evener roller which serves to provide a substantially constant amount of conveyance of fibres by the conveyor 24.

Patented Dec. 20, -1960 one so far as it is adapted to continuously and automatically break the bales and open, mix and blend the fibres for the subsequent treatment as hereinafter described.

The fibres so conveyed upwardly are then scraped off by a revolving stripper roller or heater 26 on to a main rake distributor 27 running to the direction of the arrow and enclosed in a long enclosure 28 communicated at its root end with the interior of the housing 14. The rake distributor 27 is shown as in the form of an endless lattice conveyor equipped with carrier pins, spikes or horns. Indicated with the numeral 29 are guide plates to assist the falling of fibres onto the main rake distributor 27. The length of the main distributor 27 will be determined by the number of branch rake distributors hereinafter described.

From the bottom of the main enclosure 28 are extended a plurality of parallel long branch enclosures 30, 30a and 30b, each enclosing a branch rake distributor 31 running longitudinally therein and in the direction of the arrow. The branch rake distributor is also in the form of endless rake lattice conveyor equipped with carrier pins, spikes or horns. At the junction of the main enclosure and each of the branch enclosures they open to each other. In other words, at the junction, the bottom wall of the main enclosure and the upper wall of each branch enclosure are cut to form an opening. In each of the branch enclosures and adjacent said openings, there is provided a shutter 56 slidable in channel members 57 which normally is inactive but is adapted to close said opening in a certain circumstance which will be explained hereinafter.

In the present embodiment shown in Fig. 1 there are seen three rows of the branch distributor, but this number can be varied, according to room size or any particular operational requirement. As the construction and function of any one row of the branch distributors and its associated members and apparatus are substantially common to the others, detailed explanation will be made in reference only of the first branch distributor 30 and its associated apparatus.

As shown in Fig. 1 there are arranged a number of tower hoppers 32 in series below the bottom wall of each branch enclosure 30 at equal intervals. In the present case shown there are nine tower hoppers, but this number can be varied at will.

The upper end of each tower is connected to the bottom wall 33 of the branch enclosure 30 and opens into the interior of the branch closure 30 as well shown in Figs. 4 and 5. At the junction of the tower to the bottom wall of the branch enclosure, it is preferable that the right side wall 34 is curved at 35 less sharply than that of the left side wall 36 at 37 for the reason explained hereinafter. The tower hopper nearest to the main rake distributor, or first tower hopper connected to each branch enclosure is provided adjacent its upper open end with a photoelectric device 38 which is electrically operatively connected at 61 with the shutter actuating means, which may be a conventional two-way pistoncylinder mechanism 58, 59 controlled by valve 60 and supplied with pressure medium through pipes 6264, for closing the opening at the junction of the main enclosure and the branch enclosure. The electric connection is such that when the said tower hopper is filled with fibres over the position of the photoelectric device 38 the latter is activated to actuate the shutter actuating means to close the opening. Each of the shutters, however, is further adapted to be actuated by a separate switch regardless of the actuation from the photoelectric device so that any of the openings may be closed in accordance with necessity.

The fibres delivered onto the main rake distributor 27 from the spiked lattice conveyor 24 are carried by the upper run 39 of the distributor 27 toward the end thereof where is reversed into the lower run 40 in the opposite direction.

For convenience of explanation, it is now assumed that the shutters on the branch enclosures 30a and 30b are actuated by the separate switches and the corresponding openings at the junctions'of these branch enclosures and the main enclosure 28 are closed, so that these two rows of the apparatus are not operated and only the first row 30 is operated.

The fibres carried by the lower run of the main rake distributor 27 will fall, by their own weight, through the opening at the junction of the main enclosure 28 and the branch enclosure 30 onto the upper run 41 of the branch rake distributor 31 and are conveyed therewith toward the end thereof where it is reversed into the lower run 42. Then the fibres will first continue to fall, by their own weight, into the ninth tower hopper which is nearest to the free end of the branch enclosure 30 until the said tower is filled with the fibres. When this or ninth tower is filled, then the fibres are similarly fed into the next or the eighth tower and this successive filling or feeding is continued until the first tower is filled with the fibres. When the first tower is filled, the photoelectric device 38 is operated as before stated to close the shutter so that no further fibres will be delivered to the branch rake distributor 31. The fibres further carried by the lower run of the main rake distributor 27 fall, by their own weight, into the reserve box 18 along the wall 19.

It will be understood that when the shutters for all the branch enclosures 30, 30a and 3012 are opened, the towers associated with the enclosure 30b are first filled in the same manner as described above and the towers associated with the enclosure 30a are filled and finally the towers associated with the enclosure 30 are filled successively.

As well shown in Figs. 1 and 4, a carding machine 43 is arranged in front of each of the tower hoppers 32. Adjacent the open bottom of each tower hopper 32 there is provided a pair of fluted take-out rollers 44 which serve to continuously draw the fibres from the tower hopper and form the fibres into a continuous and substantially uniform lap to be directly fed to the carding machine 43. In order that the fibres are so formed into the continuous and even lap, it is necessary that a substantially constant amount of the fibres should be accumulated at all times in the tower and the downward movement of the fibres in the tower hopper should be evenly and smoothly carried out. It will be understood that by the use of the rake distributors and the shutters the amount of the fibres to be fed into the towers is kept substantially constant. It is advisable to select suitable dimension and shape for the tower hopper, depending upon room size, operational requirement, the nature of the fibres, etc. but to ensure the smooth and even downward movement of the fibres in the tower. Generally, it is preferable to shape the tower to slightly diverge or spread toward the bottom for fibres whose frictional resistance to the inner walls of the tower is comparatively high.

The lap of the fibres from the revolving take-out rollers 44 is passed between a pair of fluted guide rollers 45 arranged below the take-out rollers and is fed to the carding machine 43 which may be of a known type but is prefenable to be of the type shown having a belt conveyor 46 in front of a feed plate 47. The lap is carried by the belt conveyor 46 while being pressed by press rollers 48 toward the feed plate 47 and is fed into the carding machine in the well known manner.

In front of each row of the carding machines there is provided an endless conveyor 49. The web from each carding machine is then drawn in to form a sliver 50 and delivered on the conveyor 49. Therefore, in the apparatus shown, nine slivers 50 are continuously conveyed by the conveyor 49. These slivers are gathered together at a guide stand 51 and are fed into a high speed draft frame 52. A single continuous sliver 53 delivered from the draft frame 52 is then coiled in the usual can 54.

It is preferable to provide an automatic can changer whereby the can filled with a predetermined amount of the sliver is automatically conveyed away from the sliver receiving position and at the same time a fresh empty can is charged to the said position for automatic operation.

In operation, the whole system except the carding machines is started and bales of fibrousmaterial are automaticaly and continuously fed to the conveyor 5. The fibres are sufiiciently opened, mixed and blended as already explained and are automatically and continuously conveyed by the main rake distributor and then by the branch distributors. As the fibres are in the free or loose state during such conveyance, they are fed into the tower hoppers with substantial uniformity and even density. The feeding of the fibers into each tower hopper is facilitated by the curvature 35.

After all the towers are filled, the carding machines are started. In the tower, the fibres are more dense or crowded toward the open bottom of the tower and gradually move downwards by their own weight against the frictional resistance thereof to the walls of the tower. The take-out rollers 44 are rotated at such surface speed that a substantially uniform lap is formed therebetween continuously. The continuous lap is subjected to the subsequent treatment as hereinbefore described. It should be noted that as soon as the fibres in the first tower of each row move downwards beyond the position of the photoelectric device 38 the said device is again actuated to operate the corresponding shutter to open the opening, so that the distribution of the fibres to the towers of the row is again carried out.

The speeds of the main rake distributor and the branch rake distributors and the amount of fibres continuously conveyed therewith should be so sufiicient as to ensure that an amount of the fibres equal to that of the fibres taken out by the take-out rollers is substantially continuously distributed in each of the towers so that the tower is filled constantly with the fibres at all times.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described hereinafter, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the continuous breaking, opening, mixing, blending and conveyance up to the hopper feeder with condenser may be carried by any other suitable system although the particular combination of the various units illustrated and described herein is preferable. The important feature of the present invention is in the subsequent uniform distribution of the fibres to a plurality of tower hoppers and formation of a substantially uniform lap of fibres just ready for feeding to a carding machine without the conventional roll lap formation. Furthermore, it will be understood that if only a single row of the tower hoppers with carding machines is desired, the main rake distributor may be omitted and the branch rake distributor may be associated directly with the hopper feeder with condenser.

Instead of providing the shutter and the photoelectric device in each first tower, it is possible to provide such photoelectric device in each of all towers and a shutter at each junction of the tower and the branch enclosure so that when each tower is filled the photoelectric device is actuated to close the corresponding shutter while when the fibres in the tower moves downwardly beyond the position of the photoelectric device the shutter is opened and thus each tower is filled with a substantially constant amount of the fibres at all times.

We claim:

1. A system for producing slivers from textile fibers comprising means for continuously and automatically breaking, opening, mixing and blending bales of fibers, a main rake distributor in the form of an endless lattice conveyor having carrier pins thereon and an elongated enclosure in which said main rake distributor'is enclosed, a plurality of parallel rows of branch rake distributors each of which extends from the bottom of the main rake distributor and being in the form of an endless lattice conveyor having carrier pins thereon and an elongated enclosure in which it is enclosed, a plurality of tower hoppers depending in series from the bottom of each branch rake distributor enclosure, a row of carding machines along and in front of each series of the tower hoppers, a carding machine associated with each hopper, and a condenser-hopper-feeder connected between said means for breaking, opening, mixing and blending the fibers and the main rake distributor, said combined condenser-hopper-feeder comprising a reserve box for receiving and storing in said reserve box the fibers from said means for breaking, opening, mixing and blending the fibers and conveyor means for continuously feeding the fibers from the reserve box onto the main rake distributor, the conveyor of said main rake distributor having the upper and lower runs thereof extending into said reserve box, whereby an excess of fibers is conveyed back to the said reserve box by the lower run of the lattice conveyor of the main rake distributor.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, which further comprises a photoelectric device on the tower hopper in each row of tower hoppers which is the nearest to the main rake distributor, a shutter at the junction of the main enclosure and the corresponding branch enclosure having electronically controlled means for opening and closing the shutter to which said photoelectric device is electrically connected, whereby when the said tower hopper is filled with fiber above the level of the photoelectric device the latter is activated to actuate the shutter to close the opening at the junction of the main and branch enclosures so as to discontinue the supply of the fibers from the main distributor to the branch distributor.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1, in which the said combined condenser-hopper-feeder further comprises a condenser for depositing the fibers from the breaking, opening, mixing and blending means, means for sweeping the fibers deposited on said condenser into the said reserve box.

4. 'A system as claimed in claim 1, in which at the junction of each tower hopper and the enclosure for the branch rake distributor, the side wall of the tower hopper on the side where the fiber first comes into the hopper is curved less sharply than that of the other side wall to facilitate the falling of the fibers into the tower hopper.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a pair of take-out rollers just below the open bottom of each tower hopper, and guide rolls between the take-out rollers and the entrance to the carding machine for positively and uniformly guiding the lap from the takeout rollers toward the carding machine.

Dobson Nov. 25, 1873 Penney et al. Dec. 11, 1928 

